Three crashes injure two, snarl traffic

Three wrecks, one in Edwards County and two in White County, injured two people, including a Grayville woman, and snarled traffic south of Grayville for several hours Thursday evening.

Braden Willis Of The Carmi Times

Three wrecks, one in Edwards County and two in White County, injured two people, including a Grayville woman, and snarled traffic south of Grayville for several hours Thursday evening.

The Edwards County Sheriff's Office identified the two injured as 30-year-old Ashley Roosevelt of Grayville and 40-year-old Kenneth Bryant of Albion.

The Grayville Navigator reported charges are pending from the crash, which occurred shortly before 4 p.m.

A 2013 Dodge 1500 Ram pick up truck slammed into a road sign, culminating a skid of several hundred feet. Preliminary reports have the truck traveling eastbound on the road when it left the roadway and traveled approximately 450 feet before striking a culvert on Leon Harris's drive.

The truck became airborne, traveling about 150 feet before landing. The truck then skidded down the ditch another 50 feet before crossing the roadway, traveling 60 feet before coming to rest in the opposite ditch.

Edwards County EMS provided preliminary treatment to the pair before they were airlifted.

Illinois 1 just south of Interstate 64 was shut down for several hours Thursday afternoon and evening after a spudder being towed broke free and overturned.

There were no injuries.

Emergency personnel at the scene told The Navigator the Westar Energy spudder, a 1984 International, was being towed by a 1982 Mack truck owned by Foster's Garage of Noble.

The driver, identified as 60-year-old Gerald Foster of Noble, told them he struck a bump at the French Creek bridge and the spudder began to fishtail, eventually breaking loose.

The unit overturned and skidded, leaving a four-to-six inch deep gash in the pavement for some 20 to 30 feet.

Mideast Trucking of Grayville arrived at the scene and uprighted the spudder, which was to be towed by Foster's to the Mideast yard.

Westar Energy is owned by Mt. Carmel attorney C. Michael Witters and Craig Howard of Mt. Carmel, along with another investor from Indianapolis, Ind. Witters said the unit was valued at $400,000.

The Illinois Department of Transportation repaired the roadway.

Foster was cited for failure to secure load and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

Illinois State Police, the White County Sheriff's Department and the Little Wabash Fire Protection District responded to the accident. In the midst of the clean-up, another rollover was reported two miles farther south and the sheriff's personnel responded to that accident as well.

That accident involved Pamela K. Sanders, 67, Grayville.

A White County Sheriff's Office accident report said Sanders was driving a 2013 Kia Sportage on County Road 1975 East just off Illinois 1, where traffic was being re-routed because of the wreck just to the north at 5:22 p.m.

Sanders was northbound on 1975 East and moved right to make room for a pair of tractor-trailers traveling southbound on the narrow county road due to the re-routing. The Kia came to where a small creek runs under the road and was too far right. The vehicle left the roadway and overturned. There were no injuries reported in that incident.

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